I have a 300 sqft area near our pool and patio that consists of three different types of rocks. The pathway has tiny, sharp, horrible rocks and on either side are river-rocks in two different tones. We inherited what is turning out to be a mess from the previous owners; the cheap weed fabric they used disintegrated and it's a constant struggle keeping the weeds at bay. Also the rocks are finding their way into the pool and on the concrete patio where they inflict pain.

Here's a picture of part of it, when it was brand new, and not looking that bad:

The stone bed has several bare spots now and is a good 1.5" below the top of the concrete patio/pool surround.

I had a landscaper I trust take a look and he offered me two solutions:

$1400 to remove all the rock, fix a small homeowner special retaining wall (not pictured, against the house) and lay down sod.

$4500 to do all the above but instead of sod, put down a proper foundation for pavers, then install decorative pavers.

Here's the catch - in a couple years I plan on nuking the entire area around the pool and 'doing it right' with a different fence, nice stone pavers, etc. Basically, whatever I do now is a temporary fix.

I'm not sure I like the idea of the sod as that's upkeep and mess I don't want to deal with. With three preschool kids I just don't have the time, plus cutting a small area of grass around the pool would result in grass clippings in the water, etc.

I don't like the $4500 option because it's $4500, much of which would be thrown out when we redo that area. The fixed retaining wall and proper underlayment for the pavers is all that would remain when the area is redone.

Wondering if I can DIY this project myself for under $1k? We already have a stone base; could I add some crushed gravel and sand, and put down some large, home-depot special concrete pavers over the top of the whole area?

I'm looking for something that will be "good enough" for a couple years and not result in a tremendous wallet dent or a maintenance nightmare. Really want to get rid of the loose stones as they hurt my kids. Thank you for any help.

Thanks, I think I will do just that... try to rip out some of the crappy fabric that's sticking up between the rocks, then add a few bags of rocks to get decent coverage, and wait to do the big project (not diy friendly) in two years.

One question - we previously roundup'd all the weeds and pulled as much out as we could but there are still plenty of dead 'shoots' sticking up that look ugly. Could I burn those away w/a landscaping torch?

Pavers over rockbed

I'm currently looking at the same project that your anticipating on doing. I'm only the sail on this boat the other half (Love Her) she's commands the stern. Go to HD, Lowes, or Mennards etc. buy 6mil black plastic. Remove rocks lay plastic and put rocks back on top of plastic. I've used this the last 20+ yrs works for me in Mi. Have a good-day. SJ